Phew! Is this week over yet? Yahoo! (yhoo) dominated the headlines with a $1.1 billion Tumblr purchase and Flickr relaunch and new New York office. But Microsoft (msft) made a doozy of an announcement with the unveiling of its new (and gigantic) Xbox One TV/game console. Given all this news, the departure of some high-level HTC execs was well timed for that company.

This week’s GigaOM Show covers it all, and even features a guest appearance by All Things D’s Peter Kafka.

SHOW NOTES:
Hosts: Chris Albrecht, Tom Krazit
Guests: Peter Kafka, Janko Roettgers and Kevin Tofel

Yahoo buys Tumblr and what it all means!

Microsoft’s TV dreams inside the Xbox One and what it all means!

HTC’s size problem, Android, and what it all means!

The internet of things poses a variety of design challenges starting with the fact that we’re not exactly sure how most consumers will want to deploy and implement connected devices in their homes and lives. Much like people don’t think about using electricity, but instead they think about turning on the lights, plugging in a TV or other applications, using the internet of things will require applications.

But for the most part, people are selling consumers, not applications, but the links to make applications possible. So the WeMo isn’t just a connected outlet, its analogous to selling someone an outlet for electricity. What would someone in a non electrified world want with an outlet? What does the average consumer want with a WeMo? That was one of many topics that I discussed in this week’s podcast with product designer Carla Diana. Diana is fascinated by theSmartThings, the Twines and the other connected elements that she calls “mavericks” but she’s not sure that’s how the internet of things will actually invade the home.

Hear her discuss this, designing for ambient information without overwhelming users and how the internet of things will help take us away from our screens and embed technology into our lives in ways that make us more efficient and maybe more fun.

Show notes:
Host: Stacey Higginbotham
Guest: Carla Diana, Smart fellow at Smart Design and CEO of Carla Diana Creative

• How do you design something when we’re not even sure how people will use the internet of things?
• The importance of mavericks in the developing ecosystem.
• Pre-made kits may be the best example of how normal people will install the internet of things.
• Thinking about design and using the internet of things for ambient information.
• LEarn why “life now, data later” matters in designing for connected devices.

Google I/O has come and gone without any new Chrome OS hardware. Was it a bust for Chromies? Not at all, but most of the news were behind the scenes services and provided context for Chrome’s future vision.

You can see some of that future in Chromium for the Mac, which is getting the Chrome App launcher. Our extension of the week dovetails with Google’s new Play Music All Access subscription service. And while Kevin still loves the Chromebook Pixel, he pleads with Google to add one important function to Chromebooks: Support for Google Play movie and TV downloads.

Hosts: Chris Albrecht and Kevin C. Tofel

• So what was Google I/O like, what’s new for Chrome and what new services did Google add?
• More Intel-powered(intc) hardware builds are being tested
• Chromium for Mac getting the App launcher
• What’s Google’s vision for Chrome? To take over the world, of course!
• Extension of week: Better Music for Google Play Music
• When will Google add movie and TV downloads for Chromebooks?

Got questions, tips or tricks for an upcoming GigaOM Chrome Show? Find Kevin on Google+, Twitter (@kevinctofel) or via e-mail (kevin@gigaom.com)

Google I/O was a different event from years prior and on this week's show we discuss why. 

SHOW NOTES:
Hosts: Tom Krazit
Guests: Kevin Tofel, Janko Roettgers, and Eliza Kern

Thirteen years ago Adam Dunkels was trying to hook up a hockey team in Lulea, Sweden with sensors and cameras so coaches and fans could track helmet cams and players’ vital signs. It was an academic project but it was also an early example of the internet of things. The project was doomed to fail for a variety of reasons, but out of that experience came a lightweight code for connecting devices called Lightweight IP.

A later version of that code became the base for LEGO Mindstorms and a variety of other connected projects. But Dunkels realized that to truly build a platform for connected devices he needed even lighter weight code. So he built Contiki, an operating system of sorts of the internet of things. And now he’s commercializing all that he’s learned in a startup called ThingSquare. In the podcast we discuss the history of the internet of things and when we reached the tipping point that made the internet of things inevitable.

Show notes:
Host: Stacey Higginbotham
Guest: Adam Dunkels, chairman, co-founder and chief architect of ThingSquare

• How connecting a hockey team in 2000 helped him learn what the internet of things needed.
• Why he build LWIP, microIP and later Contiki as an OS for the internet of things.
• The factors that led to a tipping point for the internet of things.
• Dunkels tells me to stop looking at the future and to pay attention to the present. Because the internet of things is here today.

On the all-Chrome podcast this week, we remind folks that Google Keep is replacing Scratchpad in Chrome OS: Don't forget to sync your notes! Also, Google has added push notification support in Chrome. Speaking of Google, Joe Marini, a Google Developer Advocate talks about Packaged Apps, Native Client and more.

Our extension of the week will help you better manage your tasks while a quick tip helps unhide your "missing extensions. Oh... and isn't there a big event this week? Hear our preview thoughts of Google I/O!

Show notes

Hosts: Chris Albrecht and Kevin C. Tofel

• Goodbye Scratchpad, hello Google Keep
• Google gets pushy with notifications
• Special guest: Joe Marini from Google
• What we expect from Google I/O
• Extension of the week: Any.DO
• Tip: Can't see all of your extensions? Here's the fix

Got questions, tips or tricks for an upcoming GigaOM Chrome Show? Find Kevin on Google+, Twitter (@kevinctofel) or via e-mail (kevin@gigaom.com)

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Some publishers and content companies are betting their future on subscription revenue from readers and users, while others are keeping their content free and banking on advertising revenue to pay the way. What are the pros and cons of each model?

Moderated by:
Mathew Ingram – Senior Writer, GigaOM / paidContent

Speakers:
Bob Bowman – President and CEO, MLB Advanced Media
Raju Narisetti – SVP and Deputy Head of Strategy, News Corp
Justin Smith – President, Atlantic Media
Richard Tofel – President, ProPublica

It was a busy week in the tech world. In between rumors of billion dollar acquisitions, we plucked three interesting stories for you to sink your brain into this weekend. Mathew Ingram joins the show for a look at how LinkedIn is evolving into a media entity. Erica Ogg and Kevin Tofel help us examine whether Apple’s iPhone is just becoming a dumb platform for Google and others. And finally, Janko Roettgers breaks down the breaking (as of recording time) news of YouTube subscriptions.

SHOW NOTES:
Co-Hosts: Chris Albrecht, Tom Krazit
Guests: Mathew Ingram, Erica Ogg, Kevin Tofel, Janko Roettgers

LinkedIn continues its evolution as a media entity with the launch of magazine-style news channels

Google lets iOS apps direct users to Chrome instead of Safari

YouTube launches its paid subscription channels with select partners

Connecting devices to the internet helps solve the problem of turning on your lights without ever leaving your chair, but a 1980s device called The Clapper did the same thing. To really bring connected devices into the future people are using them to build services. That’s fun, but it gets even better when you add machine learning to the data those devices collect.

That’s what ThingWorx did when it signed a partnership with Jeff Hawkin’s hot data startup Numenta. Hawkins who was the creator of the Palm Pilot, has tried to build out a series of algorithms that look at data in the manner a human mind does to make predictions. But it can process a lot more data than a human.

In this week’s podcast Russ Fadel, CEO of ThingWorx, talks about the partnership and how predictive intelligence plus connected sensors are changing farming and improving medical care.

Show notes:
Host: Stacey Higginbotham
Guest: Russ Fadel, CEO of ThingWorx

• How farmers are using the internet of things to improve their crops.
• Adding more intelligence to connected devices means they can tell you what to do (and eventually those sensors may tell a robot what to do).
• Does a secure internet of things mean a closed system?

On the all-Chrome podcast this week, we start out with news of Asus getting into the Chrome hardware market later this year and how Intel's upcoming new Atom chip could prime the pump for all-day battery life on Chromebooks.

From a personal standpoint, Chris has had a few problems on the Stable channel with his Chromebook while Kevin is enjoying all the new features of the Dev channel. A few new tips are shared -- including where to get a Chromebook at a discount -- as well as our extension of the week for Chrome and Chrome OS.

Show notes

Hosts: Chris Albrecht and Kevin C. Tofel

• Asus plans Chrome hardware for the second half of 2013
• What might Intel's Silvermont silicon bring to Chromebooks?
• More about that LTE radio in the Pixel
• Tip: Opening tabs in new pages
• Chris' Chromebook is crashy!
• Kevin is finally rocking the Dev channel and all the great new features it brings
• Extension of the week: Add to Amazon Wish List
• Google Keep is no Evernote, but it's handy and works offline; it's a Packaged App!
• Chromebooks can be found for as little at $185.50 at Amazon's(s amzn) Warehouse

Got questions, tips or tricks for an upcoming GigaOM Chrome Show? Find Kevin on Google+, Twitter (@kevinctofel) or via e-mail (kevin@gigaom.com)

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